I am gearing up to build a trellis for my two 80 foot rows of blackberries. My plan is to buy five or six 8 foot 4x4s for each row, sink them 3 foot in the ground and concrete them in. I would also have an angled t-post at each end to make the end posts more sturdy. These 4x4s would have 2x4s at 2.5 foot and 5 foot for the wire to pass through eye-screws or connect by eye-bolts depending. Would it be better to have one continuous wire with an in-line strainer to tighten it or have each section with its own wire and turnbuckles at each section. Individual wires would put some pressure at each post instead of all pressure on the end posts. Thanks, look forward to comments or suggestions!
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Wow, 80 foot rows should produce a few hundred pounds a year. I had a 20 foot row that produced about 25 pounds. I have since removed them, I really don’t need that many.
Stress on the trellis will depend on cultivar. Uprights and semi-uprights often don’t even need one. The trailing types benefit the most.
I can’t say much about the wire. I ran a 25 foot long trellis with one wire, but I would not run it any longer than that. I used grape vine wire and tighteners. I forget the gauge?
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Sorry forgot to mention variety of blackberries, one row is prime ark freedom and one is prime ark 45s.
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I have about a 50ft t trellis for raspberries and blackberries with high tension wire and wire vises an soil anchors at end posts…i just dug/ burried 4x4s end post on a 20drg angle btw…its very sturdy and overkill IMO but it looks good and keeps the bushes undercontrol…i hope you have help picking 80ft is some serious output! Good luck and enjoy!
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I think it sounds fantastic! But good luck getting the new canes to come up and stay in the middle of them. I’d like to see a photo when it’s full of berries. These PAF’s wear me out trying to keep them tipped back to manageable growth. That’s a lot of berries!!!
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